Henry Ford West Bloomfield is First in Nation to Deploy Patient-aware Operating Room Technology

25/03/2009 | Our company

EL SEGUNDO, CA (March 25, 2009) –KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America, Inc., a leader in diagnostic and operative minimally invasive endoscopic technology, announces that the new Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital has become the first to deploy the Patient-Aware Operating Room (PAOR), a new patient safety system from LiveData and KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America. PAOR provides Henry Ford’s surgical teams with a Wall of Knowledge that combines comprehensive real-time data from nursing, surgery and anesthesia systems, as well as surgical equipment, PACS images and lab reports. This data is then displayed not only on boom-mounted screens in the surgical field but also on a large wall-mounted screen that is visible to the entire OR team.

The new facility, which opened its doors on March 15, enables physicians and other clinicians to take advantage of the latest in medicine, technology and patient safety, integrated with wellness and prevention programs all under one roof. It is the first new hospital Henry Ford Health System – one of the country's largest health care systems – has built since its flagship hospital in Detroit opened in 1915, and represents the seventh hospital in Henry Ford’s regional hospital network.

“At Henry Ford, safety trumps all,” said Christine Zambricki, COO and chief nursing officer at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. “With its advances in team communication and improvement in workflow, the Patient-Aware OR is a core technology to this commitment. It is at the very heart of our safety program.”

The Patient-Aware OR, which includes OR1 software, displays and infrastructure support from KARL STORZ and LiveData OR-Dashboard, allows the surgical team to focus more fully and effectively on the patient. The combination of the two companies’ technologies create a true Patient-Aware OR – helping to ensure that surgical teams have the right information at the right time, improving patient safety, easing communication among team members, promoting OR workflow efficiency and productivity, and helping hospitals capitalize on existing IT investments.

By automatically gathering and displaying real-time data from disparate sources, the Patient-Aware OR reinforces consistent adherence to safety protocols and helps eliminate so-called “never events,” which are preventable human errors generally considered so threatening to patient safety that they should never happen. Communication within the OR team is also facilitated since each member has clear and automatic access to critical information about the patient, procedure and equipment.

Additionally, OR workflow efficiency and productivity are increased by streamlining interaction with other parts of the hospital to improve OR and PACU scheduling, ensuring that surgeon preferences are understood, and identifying missing tray and cart items before the team’s arrival. Hospitals can capitalize on their existing IT investments and accelerate payback from currently installed IT technology by collecting vital data from various systems, such as electronic medical records, pharmacy, lab and pathology systems.

“We are passionate about safety at Henry Ford; this technology allows us to to take patient safety to a new level,” said Scott A. Dulchavsky, Chairman of Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital. “I am excited to partner with KARL STORZ and LiveData to use these new capabilities every time a patient enters one of our operating rooms at our new West Bloomfield facility. But, we’re not finished. We are already working additional enhancements to this superb system as new technologies emerge.”
“As the newest hospital in America, it is fitting that Henry Ford West Bloomfield is also the first full deployment of the Patient-Aware Operating Room,” said Phil Brzezinski, VP/Healthcare Systems at LiveData. “By combining KARL STORZ' proven presence and device connectivity in the OR with LiveData's IT interface expertise, the KARL STORZ/LiveData partnership brings a comprehensive new level of patient-aware intelligence to the operating room. We are proud to have been with Henry Ford West Bloomfield when the doors opened.”

“Efficiency and safety go hand in hand. Besides the obvious benefit of always knowing what’s going on with the surgical process, a Patient-Aware Operating Room means that hospitals gain a greater ability to optimize OR activities by streamlining and strengthening resource management,” said Connie Padden, Director of Technology Integration, KARL STORZ. “Our partnership with trailblazers like Henry Ford Hospital and LiveData will have the added benefit of demonstrable, significant improvements in quality.”

Along with its well-known contributions to team communication and workflow efficiency, the Patient-Aware OR will provide the hospital with an innovative approach toward ensuring compliance with its patient safety initiatives. A unique combination of real-time data integration and human factors engineering, PAOR offers the OR team real-time tools, such as electronic checklists and reminders, along with display of essential case information. This enables them to effectively conduct verification procedures, such as the surgical Time Out, and to meet Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) guidelines.